


a little fall of rain (could hardly hurt us now)

by bethica



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adult Eddie Kaspbrak, Adult Richie Tozier, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Weather, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Kissing in the Rain, M/M, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Weather Forecaster Eddie Kaspbrak, have this fic thats been sitting in my drafts for 2 years, meteorologist au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25417963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethica/pseuds/bethica
Summary: "There were fights, definitely, but never once had Eddie doubted that Richard Wentworth Tozier was his person. They weren’t “two peas in a pod”; rather, they were the pound of feathers and the pound of bricks— entirely different in substance and form, but at the end of the day, they were perfectly, evenly balanced.At least, that’s what Eddie had thought until that night."a storm, both literal and emotional, and its effects on one eddie kaspbrak.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 7
Kudos: 57





	a little fall of rain (could hardly hurt us now)

**Author's Note:**

> started this about 2 years ago for the itfandomprompts prompt "rain," and just now got around to finishing it up! enjoy this messy little fic, and kudos/comment if ya want! it's been about a million years since i've posted IT content, but it's always lurking in the back of my mind hehe

“We’re on in three, Eddie.”

Eddie Kaspbrak swivelled around to face the young intern who had tapped on his shoulder. She smiled as she pulled a headset over her ears and gestured to the Meteorology team’s green screen. 

“Oh! Thanks, Hannah.” Walking quickly to a mirror set up on the makeup artist’s desk, the young meteorologist checked his hair and adjusted his tie. He’d been on the air for almost three years now, but the moments directly before he went live were still always nerve-wracking. He always had to go through his pre-show routine, down to the letter. Was it obsessive? Okay, maybe a little. But honestly, given what Eddie Kaspbrak had gone through, he was allowed at least a couple neuroses.

Eddie was carefully placing a breath strip on his tongue, eyes closed as he quietly ran through the checklist in his mind, when a voice startled him out of his focus.

“Doin’ alright there, Kaspbrak?”

The familiar raspy voice, albeit with an unfamiliar edge, immediately caused Eddie’s stomach to clench. This was the last thing he needed right now.

“I’m fine, Richie. Thanks.” Eddie didn’t turn around, not sure if he could bear the sight of his oldest friend at that particular moment.

It had been three weeks. Three long, excruciating weeks. Twenty-one days since he had run his hands through his mop of curls, since he had tasted that intimately familiar mixture of cigarettes & orange Tic-Tacs, since those huge, warm hands had run over his skin. Three weeks of desperately resisting every urge to call his boyfriend (best friend!) and beg him to come home. Seeing him at work every day had been nothing short of torture, but every time he heard Richie’s booming laugh, or passed him bowed intently over some piece of equipment, Eddie thought back to that night, to the heartbreak and the yelling, and somehow stopped himself every time. 

“Eddie? It’s time.” That’d be Hannah again. _Shit,_ he thought, _not even halfway done with the list._ Oh well. He was already thrown off his game enough by hearing Richie speak directly to him for the first time in weeks. Might as well just start the broadcast as off-kilter as possible.

Taking one last glance in his reflection, Eddie headed to the camera area. His co-host, Jessica, greeted him there. “Morning, Ed!” She beamed at him as she set down her mug of coffee just out of frame. “You ready?”

He sighed. “Hey, Jess. As I’ll ever be.”

As usual, as soon as the cameras started rolling, Eddie tried to be as professional and present as possible. After three years of being on the air, it was to the point where doing the weather broadcast felt kind of like slipping on an old pair of shoes: comfortable, and easy as breathing. 

The weather had always enthralled him. Ever since he was a kid, he would just sit and watch the weather report, captivated by the idea that humans could predict and catalogue something as insane and seemingly erratic as the earth’s weather patterns. As he had slowly moved through school, and begun to learn the pressures and fronts that caused climate in his science classes, he only became more and more intrigued. One bachelor’s degree later, armed with the knowledge that he had, as Richie put it, a “killer customer service voice” (“seriously dude, it’s kinda creepy”), Edward Kaspbrak, meteorologist, (!!!) had set out to chase his dream career.

And every step of the way, through late night pre-midterms breakdowns and uncomfortable trips home to Derry and that incredible, final call that Eddie had been hired at the station, Richie was there. He had always been there, in one way or another, for as long as Eddie could remember. It was a struggle to recall a positive childhood memory without Richie’s smug, beaming face, or a shitty accent going off in his ear. 

It was only in high school that the two had finally begun to realize. Over long, quiet nights at sleepovers and through not-so-subtle stolen glances and teary-eyed identity crises to their friends, Richie and Eddie began to understand that the connection the two of them shared may have gone beyond the fierce loyalty all the Losers shared with each other. 

When, finally, Eddie cupped his hands around Richie’s flushed face and smashed their lips together, there was a feeling deep in both of their chests that, yes, this was right. This was the way it was supposed to be, that _they_ were supposed to be. Once Richie had overcome his shock, their first kiss was tender, gentle, but so so warm. Eddie had heard that there were meant to be fireworks, when you kissed someone you loved for the first time. And Eddie didn’t feel fireworks, maybe, but the incredible, overwhelming affection that overwhelmed him as he and his best friend kissed for the first time made Eddie feel like he was just about levitating two inches off the ground for the next two weeks.

The same sort of people who Eddie had heard say that kisses were like fireworks sometimes described connecting with the perfect partner as two puzzle pieces fitting together. But if Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak were puzzle pieces, they were for two wildly different puzzles that only fit together because of some wild twist of fate. 

Richie’s brashness and ADHD sometimes rubbed directly against Eddie’s stubbornness and critical nature, and so there were nights of raised voices and clenched fists and silent, angry tears. But there were just as many mornings of soft voices and apologies and working towards peace, followed by quiet neck kisses and spooning as they watched cartoons together on a worn leather couch. 

There were fights, definitely, but never once had Eddie doubted that Richard Wentworth Tozier was his person. They weren’t “two peas in a pod”; rather, they were the pound of feathers and the pound of bricks— entirely different in substance and form, but at the end of the day, they were perfectly, evenly balanced. 

At least, that’s what Eddie had thought until that night. That terrible, hot and sweaty night. The exact details of the seemingly unending screaming match blurred together, but Eddie still remembered the devastating way it ended.

It was meant to be a cozy night in. Rich had found the latest crappy Noah Centineo Netflix movie (“The Kissing Booth TWO??? Who asked for a sequel??!” and the Dominos (extra parm bites) had already been delivered. The biggest, softest blanket in the apartment, reserved exclusively for couch cuddle sessions, had been wrapped around the two of them, and they giggled and snarked their way through the movie in a typical fashion. It was only after the movie that it all went to shit. 

As he watched Richie put a new bag of popcorn in the microwave, Eddie skimmed through his emails. “Oh! Hey, babe?”

Richie had turned over one shoulder, waggling his eyebrows. “Yes, my dearest?” 

“I don’t think I’ve gotten an email about your tuition yet. I have all the money in checking, maybe I should call the office and see what’s going on? I’d hate for there to be some issue and you not be able to register-”

“Eds.” Richie’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet. “Um. About that.”

Eddie was instantly on edge, noticing the way the energy in the room immediately shifted. “What. Richie, about what?”

The taller man sighed, fingers twiddling with the drawstring of his sweats as he avoided eye contact. “Eddie, I…. I don’t think I’m gonna go back to school.”

From then on, things only escalated. 

The subject of Richie's education (or lack thereof) had always been a hot topic between them. When Richie had dropped out of his sound engineering degree to deliver pizza full time and support the two of them, Eddie had been devastated. As much as Richie insisted that it was fine, and he didn’t mind at all, his boyfriend knew better. Eddie knew this much for certain- Richie had the brains, drive, and motivation to not only get his degree, but to rise well above his current position as sound tech for the local TV station. Even in high school, Richie had been practicing his own version of audio engineering; he’d been fiddling with cassettes and vinyl and mixing sounds for as long as Eddie could remember.

Whenever he was given the chance, Eddie would (sometimes gently, sometimes not so much) prod his best friend about when he’d go back to school. But until now, there had always been a reason to put it off- money, time, mental health, money again. And now, Richie was supposed to start his program in the fall! He had adjusted his hours at the station and everything. Eddie was thrilled, Richie was on course to achieve his degree, and everything was looking up! Until Richie dropped the bomb.

Before long, they were both yelling. In typical fashion, Eddie was becoming increasingly hysterical, and Richie was shutting down more and more. Yelling turned into screaming, and soon tears were welling in Richie’s eyes. Which meant that Eddie started crying too. 

“Why are you throwing your future away? Why won’t you do this for yourself?”

Richie’s face was wrenched with frustration. “Why are you so obsessed with this? You’re such a controlling little shit sometimes, why can’t you let me make my own choices? I’m a grown-ass adult, Eddie!” 

Eddie saw red. 

“ **If I’m so controlling, get out of this relationship.** Get out of this apartment. See how you do without me for once in your life.”

Then, suddenly, Richie’s expression had turned inscrutably dark. He stormed out of the room, tossing his phone onto the couch. Eddie just stood, frozen, chest heaving and overwhelmed with emotion. 

Then, barely a minute later, Richie emerged again, a duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. He grabbed his phone off the couch, his keys off the hook. He threw open the door, and walked out, slamming the door behind him, before Eddie could say a word. 

For a moment, he had just stood there, still shaking with residual emotion. Then, he sprinted out the door and into the warm summer night. “Richie,” he screamed, running towards the parking lot. “Richie, wait!” Panting, he turned the corner into the parking lot. It was empty and silent. And Richie’s beat up VW bug was gone. 

* * *

All weekend, Eddie had called, and texted, and left crying voicemails, then angry voicemails, then groveling ones, all to no response. On Sunday night, he gave up. Then, he had walked into work on Monday morning to the sight of Richie, adjusting the booms like he always did, and the world had stopped. 

His face was the same. The face that had been the constant through all of Eddie’s life, from childhood memories onward. The freckled white skin, the round brown eyes, the arched brows, the mop of ridiculous hair, the full pink lips he could practically feel under his fingertips... But, Eddie noted with some degree of satisfaction, this seemed to be hitting Richie just as hard as it had him. 

His face was rough with shadowy stubble, and dark violet bags hung heavy beneath his eyes as he hunched over the equipment. Where he might typically be joking loudly with his coworkers, or whistling as he adjusted levels, he was silent today, barely acknowledging his supervisor when she came by to check in. 

When he saw Richie so visibly broken- his best friend, his first love, his partner in life- something in Eddie’s chest crumbled. Every inch of his being was screaming to run to him, to gather all 6’3 of ridiculous man up in his arms and beg for him to come home, to kiss the bags from his eyes. But all he could do was stare. 

Barely two seconds later, Richie jolted up, making eye contact with Eddie, as if he could sense him. And like a cloud passing over his eyes, Richie’s expression darkened, and he went back to his work without a word. 

That was when Eddie knew. 

* * *

It had been 22 days since that earth-shattering night. 22 days of seeing Richie at work every single day. They had progressed to tersely acknowledging each other in passing, but Eddie saw no end in sight. He had told Richie to leave. And he had. And if 23 years of sharing his life with Richie Tozier had taught him anything, it was that there would be no reconciliation until Richie decided that he was ready for it. 

He had cried about it to Bev over the phone, more than once, and she did her best to comfort him from over 300 miles away. “Do you regret what you said?”

“Yes, Bev, dear Lord, yes I regret it! I don’t know why I got so upset, usually I don’t get so worked up by the stupid shit he says, I have no idea why this time was so awful.” There was silence for a moment, then Bev responded in a calm voice.

“Are you really sure that you have no idea why, Ed?” Eddie abruptly stopped fiddling with the phone cord at her words. “You said he called you controlling… right?” Eddie gulped.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay, I see where you’re going with this.” Bev huffed a laugh through the phone at the resignation in her friend’s words. “I… I maybe have some hang-ups about the idea of being too controlling. Due to some… ahem…… childhood issues.” Bev laughed out loud at that.

“Eddie, it’s totally okay to have baggage! We all do. God knows Ben has had to put up with enough of mine since we started living together. But you can’t unload that onto Rich. It’s not fair, you know?” Eddie sighed, resting his chin in his free hand.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know. And Bev… I know you said you don’t wanna get involved, and won’t tell me what he’s been saying or anything. But… he knows, right?”

“Knows what, Ed?” Bev asked gently. 

“That… I didn’t mean the shit I said. That I want him in my life regardless of what his choices are. That I want him to be happy and with me, no matter whether that means he gets, like, a GED or a PhD or becomes a garbage truck driver.” 

“Eddie,” Bev said sternly, “I believe they prefer to be called ‘sanitation engineers.’” He did laugh out loud at that, scrubbing a hand over his tired eyes. “But seriously! If you really want him to know that, why don’t you tell him yourself?”

* * *

Before dawn the next morning, as Eddie got ready for work in his silent apartment, thick gray clouds rolled onto the hills outside the living room window. Even without a degree in atmospheric science, he could have told you that it was going to be a stormy day. 

It started dumping rain the second Eddie stepped into the dark morning and locked the door to his apartment. He snorted. Typical. 

On the drive to work, Eddie’s mind was a maelstrom of anxiety. Bev’s words the night before had been ringing in his head since the moment he heard them.

She was right, of course. He needed to talk to Richie. He was a grown-ass adult too, damn it, and he could be a big boy and talk to his (ex????) boyfriend about what was bothering him, whatever the end result of that conversation may be. That end result though… that was what was scaring him. There was no version of the world that Eddie could see where he and Richie weren’t by each other’s sides until the day one of them finally kicked the bucket. At least, that’s what he had always assumed would happen. They had never talked about marriage, exactly, but he always figured that Richie felt that same way- that they were each other’s person, and each was stuck with the other. For better or worse.

Now, though, after three weeks apart… every intrusive thought in Eddie’s head screamed louder and louder, til he could barely hear his rational brain at all. He replayed that last fight over and over in his mind, trying to dissect the few pieces he remembered exactly. But each time he remembered it, the words Eddie had said become more hurtful, more hateful, more reason for Richie to leave him. He was trapped in a vortex of self-doubt, and could see no way out but through. 

“I have to talk to him,” Eddie said out loud to the bobble-head David Bowie that Richie had stuck on his dash as a joke. “Today. I’m going to apologize. I’m going to ask for him back.”

And he could say no, Eddie finished silently in his mind, heart dropping at the possibility. But no matter what, he knew he had to try. For himself.

* * *

"Thank you for joining us at KBIT. I’m Eddie Kaspbrak,”

“I’m Jessica Winters!”

“And this has been the weather. See you tomorrow morning at 6.” 

As the cameras cut rolling, Jess immediately turned to him, a soft look on her pretty face. “Good luck, Ed.”

He blinked. “With what?”

She smiled. “With Richie. I’m sure you’ll work it out.” As she stood up, she leaned over and whispered into his ear. “I’m rooting for you two.” 

Eddie could feel a blush rising in his cheeks. “Thanks, Jess. Me too.” 

Taking off his mic, gathering his belongings, and closing up his workstation all passed in a blur. Every few minutes, Eddie snuck a glance around the studio to check that Richie was still there. Lately, he’d been leaving the second that he finished up, so Eddie knew he’d have to rush to catch him. 

Finally, just as he was shutting down his computer, he saw Richie shrug on his huge rain jacket (“Richie, that’s huge. Here, we can find one that fits-” “Aww c’mon Eds, it’s fashion!”) and head out the double doors into the rain. 

Throwing his bag over his shoulder and snatching up his raincoat from his desk, he raced after him into the parking lot.

Richie was well ahead of him, shoulders hunched and hood covering his face as he plodded through the slightly flooded parking lot. Eddie watched as he pulled his keys out of his pocket, almost to his car, when-

“RICHIE!” Richie stopped.

Eddie froze. He didn't know that he was going to yell until he did. Here goes nothing, he supposed.

“Richie,” he called as he ran towards the other man, stopping about 6 feet short of where he was standing, still silent with his back turned. “Please, Rich, can we talk? Please?”

Slowly, he turned around. Richie’s pale face was guarded, and he didn’t make eye contact. Even so, something vibrated in Eddie’s chest, close to bursting. Just from being so close, after being apart so long (the longest they ever had been, since meeting at least). 

“Eddie.” The vibrating thing in Eddie’s chest exploded at the sound of Richie’s rough voice saying his name. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” It collapsed again. 

“Richie. I… can you just listen? Will you listen to me? You don’t even have to say anything. You can…” Eddie gulped, then continued, “you can listen and then ignore me forever, it’s fine, I just need to say this. Okay?”

Even from this distance, Eddie could see Richie fidgeting with something (maybe the fidget cube Eddie had bought him 2 Christmases ago?) as he finally spoke. “Okay.”

Eddie felt buoyed, adrenaline rushing through him as he opened his mouth again. “Okay, okay great. Richie, I… I’m so sorry. I can say it a million times but I am so sorry. I’m an idiot, and I’m a mess, and you’re right, I was being too controlling. You’re right! You’re an adult! You’re an adult, and you can make your own decisions, and I think I didn’t say it enough, but Rich-” he paused for a moment, swallowing down the sobs threatening to spill out. “Richie, I am so proud of you. You are talented and motivated and smart and amazing, and I’m so glad that you’ve been a part of my life. Richie Tozier, I don’t care whether you get a PhD or if you’re a janitor. I love you, and I miss you, and I support you no matter what. And, and, and I understand if you never want to see me again, but at least I’m saying this now, because it’s true, Rich! You’re amazing, and I love you, and I support you whether we spend the rest of our lives together or if this is over. I… I love you, Richie, and I wanted to make sure I said it one more time. I love you.”

At some point during Eddie’s breathless speech, Richie’s face had begun to crumble. And now that he was catching his breath, Eddie could see the tears that had started to stream down, mixing with the drops of rainwater. Richie pulled down his hood, letting the rain fall freely on his face, dampening his curls and steaming up his glasses, and Eddie felt his heart start to explode again. _Oh,_ he thought. _That’s love, I think._

They both stood for a moment, silent, while Eddie’s heart felt like it was ready to give out, until finally, Richie moved. 

“I love you too, Eds.” And then he was moving, long legs quickly closing the gap between them, Richie raising his eyebrows quickly to ask for permission, Eddie beaming in shock and closing his eyes, tilting his face up in response. 

And then they were kissing, and after 3 long, long weeks, standing in the middle of a parking lot in an industrial park, quickly becoming drenched with the pouring rain- Eddie Kaspbrak was home. 

**Author's Note:**

> give me a comment if youd like (i crave validation!!!), and follow on tumblr if you want, at [adhdtozier](https://adhdtozier.tumblr.com)!


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